The Lost Pilead

The Pleiades were the virgin companions to Artemis, twin of Apollo and daughter of Leto and Zeus. The Pleiades were nymphs, and along with their half sisters, were called Atlantides, Modonodes, or Nysiades and were the caretakers of the infant Bacchus.

Orion pursued the Pleiades named Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope after he fell in love with their beauty and grace. Artemis asked Zeus to protect the Pleiades and in turn, Zeus turned them into stars. Artemis was angry because she no longer could see her companions and had her brother, Apollo, send a giant scorpion to chase and kill Orion. Zeus then turned Orion into a constellation to further pursue the Pleiades in the skies.

In another legend, the sisters were transformed by Zeus into stars because Orion fell in love with them and relentlessly pursued their affection for 19 years. At first they were turned into doves, but later, along with Orion, into stars so that forever the hunter Orion would pursue them.

Merope is the faintest of the stars. She fell in love and married the impious king Sisyphus where her sisters coupled only with the Gods. Merope was said to have been so ashamed of deserting her sisters for a mortal that she hid her face amongst the stars of heaven, and thus the seventh star of the Pleiades faded away from human sight.

Her name is variously interpreted to mean "with face turned" from meros + ops, "with sparkling face" (mar)mairô + ops, and "bee-eater bird" merops. The first etymology was derived from the fading of the star, the second is a typically starry name--cf. Maira, the dog-star--, while the third reflects the connection of the Pleiades--who were also known as Peleiades or "doves"--with birds.